***

Mia's day did not go as planned. She spent the morning at a client's office, and when she checked her messages, she had a cryptic "Call me" from Dick, and another, even more cryptic "Oh, boy" from Tess.

Neither answered her return call, and when she got back to her building and pushed the elevator button, the doors opened to reveal Tess.

She stepped off, holding a box with her personal items, and Mia's stomach rolled over. "What the hell?"

"Well, it's a good news, bad news sort of thing," Tess said like always, but utterly without the usual smile. In fact, her eyes were red, she wore no lip gloss, and her face was pale.

Mia's cell began to vibrate, but she ignored it, her eyes locked on Tess's face. "Bad news first."

Tess stepped off the elevator. "I quit."

"Oh, no you didn't." Mia tried to grab the box out of her hands.

Tess held firm. "Ask me for the good news."

"Tess-"

"Ask me."

"Fine. What's the good news?"

"After I quit, Dickhead fired me, so I think that means I can get unemployment."

"What?"

"Yeah." Tess shook her head and began to walk. "Ted is such an asshole."

"Tell me something I don't know." Mia turned and followed her through the huge lobby, with no idea where they were going.

"He got this sort of sick thrill by pushing my buttons, you know?"

Mia did know. It drove her crazy that Ted picked on Tess. But to work there without her warm, easy support… Damn it, Mia couldn't even imagine. "Go on," she said tightly.

"You've already heard all this. He kept giving me stuff to do that wasn't my job and wanting me to do it ahead of everyone else's stuff. It was rude, but I could have dealt with that." Tess was talking like this was no big deal, but Mia knew Tess needed this job financially.

And Mia needed her. Not financially, but in every other way. "Oh, Tess."

Tess stopped in front of the donut stand, put down her things, and bought a dozen. "He talked to me like I was an idiot, but I could handle that, too." She offered a donut to Mia, who felt like eating the whole box. "But this morning he was going through the other reps' sales files, yours included."

"What?"

"Yeah, looking at the trafficking reports, at your media research, all for the Anderson account. When I caught him at it, he had the nerve to tell Dickhead that I was setting him up to fail, that I wasn't giving him important messages, that I was giving confidential information to other reps, doing everything I could to sabotage him. And then he told Dickhead that's how you got the Anderson account."

Mia stared at her. "This is insane. I'm going to get your job back, Tess. I'm going to-"

Tess's eyes filled with tears, and Mia wanted to kick something. Preferably Ted's balls.

"No," Tess said with a sniff. "Don't. Don't jeopardize yourself."

"I don't care about that."

But Tess was shaking her head. "I won't come back here."

"Tess-"

"I mean it, Mia. I won't, not even for you. I have better things ahead for me."

"Like what?"

"Like… Cookie Madness."

Cookie Madness was a fun thing, a make-a-little-extra-money thing, not a living thing. Mia put her hands on Tess's arms, her throat tight. "Tess-"

"It's what I want."

Mia studied her best friend, felt her heart tug, and nodded. "Then I'll help you."

"I'll count on it."

Mia ate an entire donut standing up. "What am I going to do without you?"

"Oh, honey. You don't need me. You never have." Leaning in, Tess kissed her on her cheek. "Your cell is vibrating, I can hear it from here. Go on up. I'll be okay."

"Tess-"

"Go. You have that meeting in twenty. If you lose the Anderson account now, I'll never forgive you."

Mia's throat closed, and she watched Tess walk away, head high. "Tess."

Tess turned back.

"You're sure?"

Tess's eyes were glittering with pride. "Very. Now go kick ass."

Oh, she intended to.


***

It felt so odd to be stressed about work, Mia thought on the drive home. Always she'd thrived on the intensity of it all, but suddenly it felt like too much. Tess was gone, Tami and Steven were gone, everyone else was nervous about the layoffs…

Well, except Margot, who, also now missing an assistant, asked Mia if she was going to walk off like Ted had, because she would like Mia's office.

Ted didn't say anything to Mia at all, but he didn't have to; his knowing smirk said it all.

And if work wasn't enough, Sugar left a message on Mia's cell saying this weekend was bad for her as well. And nothing, nothing at all, was as it should be in Mia's world.

Which reminded her, damn it, she had to pull over and do a U-turn because she'd forgotten Hope at the teen center.

Nice, Aunt Apple.

When she finally pulled up at the place, she found a car wash in action. High schoolers held up signs or directed cars toward more kids waiting with sponges and buckets.

Mia parked and got out in the blazing heat. Music boomed, and thanks to the education Hope had given her, she recognized 50 Cent rapping about all things sexual. The teens were mostly wet and soapy, having a grand old time as they washed cars for cash. In the beating-down heat, Mia searched the masses for Hope but couldn't find her.

Mike was exchanging hose warfare with two boys over a Honda; another group was doing the same over a Toyota truck. There was a gaggle of girls wriggling signs that read help us keep our teen center, let us wash your car, hand wash!!

She saw a man in front of a Jeep filling a bucket from the hose. Bent at the waist, he was shirtless, his jeans rolled up to his shins, feet bare. Kevin straightened, his torso broad and leanly muscled, his belly flat and ridged. His gaze locked right on her, hose still held loosely in his hand at his side as he smiled.

Mia got hotter, and she realized she'd smiled first, a big, fat dopey one. Good Lord, she needed to have that fixed. No smiling. Not today. Today sucked.

Dropping the hose, Kevin came toward her in that loose-limbed, easy gait he had. "Hey."

"Hey yourself. So how many more cars do you need to wash to buy the teen center?" she asked, her pulse quickening for no reason other than he looked damn good.

"Just about every single one in the state of California."

She sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Where's Hope?" She tore her gaze off him and searched the crowd. "I don't see her."

"Look again," he suggested and pointed back toward the Jeep.

Mia swiped her damp forehead and scanned the group. Just a girl in jean cutoffs and a white T-shirt working the sponge over the wet windows, her hair stuffed beneath a Dodgers baseball cap. "I don't see-" Her gaze froze, widened. "My God."

Kevin laughed.

The girl was Hope, sans black clothing, sans black makeup. "I can't believe it. Where's all the black?"

"She got wet and borrowed some clothes from another girl."

"Ah, so the change is only temporary."

Kevin shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you should tell her you hate it, and then shell keep at it." At her soft agreeing laugh, he shifted a little closer and ran a finger over her cheek. "So what's up with you today?"

His voice was warm and deep, and sent a bolt of pure lust through her so that she crossed her arms over her hopeful nipples. "Nothing."

"You are such a liar. A pretty one, but a liar nonetheless." He stepped even closer.

Stressed and weak and down, she became extremely aware of his bare torso, tough with strength, a golden red from being in the sun. Broad shoulders on which to set her head. Lust she could deal with. But the yearning that followed that lust was hard to take. "Just a bad day," she finally answered. I want to bite you and then lick you from head to toe…

"Queen Mia." He let out another laugh that somehow made her want to press her face to the crook of his neck and hold on.

Hold on.

Terrifying thought. "I'm not the queen of much today," she admitted, and at his easy, thoughtful look that said Tell me all about it, she felt her throat tighten. "Tess got fired, my new account is being taken over by the king of all assholes, and Sugar is too busy for her own daughter."

"Been through the wringer today, have you?"

"To say the least."

"You could keep Hope."

"I can't do that."

"Why?"

"Why?" She searched for the reasons, telling herself there were just so many. "Because I have a life."

"Right. And it's full and perfect, right? No need to make any changes to it, not when you have it all."

"Don't start with me."

"Oh, that's right. I'm only good for the stress relief. The horizontal kind."

She felt a reluctant smile tug at her lips. "Horizontal? We've been vertical plenty, as I recall."

He looked at her mouth and shook his head, an unwilling smile on his own lips. "I do like the look of that smile on you."

She met his eyes, saw the flicker of heat and reluctant affection, and felt some reluctant affection of her own kick in. Damn it. "You look good all wet and soapy, Mr. McKnight."

"You trying to change the subject?"

She opened her purse and pulled out a twenty. "For the cause?"

He arched a brow. "You want me to wash your car?"

"Yep, while I watch. Unless my money isn't good here."

He snatched the twenty from her fingers, then waved at Mike, who sauntered over, dressed pretty much the same as Kevin. He took the twenty and stuck it in a cash box.